Image courtesy of Embarc
Boston planning officials approved a new hybrid building prototype in the Newmarket industrial district and $200,000 that Harvard University will donate to local organizations as community benefits associated with its institutional projects in Allston.
City Realty Group is seeking to establish a new life science cluster near Boston Medical Center with its 17 Bradston St. development. The estimated $210 million project includes high-bay industrial space on the two lowest floors topped with six stories of lab-ready space.
The Boston Planning & Development Agency board approved the project at its monthly meeting Thursday.
Josh Fetterman, City Realty Group’s director of project development, said City Realty Group will complete construction documents and begin marketing for the 380,033 square-foot project, eyeing groundbreaking in 18 to 24 months.
“In this area and the adjacency to the [Boston] Medical Center, it may not be your traditional lab tenant. There’s a great opportunity for medical support research and just having the flexibility of being in the commercial district,” Fetterman said.
The Newmarket rezoning, approved in 2023, seeks to retain traditional industrial uses such as distribution and food wholesalers that require close access to Interstate 93. New creative arts and research uses were added to portions of the zoning district to expand options for tenants facing displacement from other commercial properties by rising rents or redevelopment.
At Thursday’s meeting, the BPDA directors also approved $200,000 that Harvard University will donate to 25 local groups as community benefits. The distributions represent the 17th year of payments from the Harvard Allston Partnership Fund, created in 2008 as Harvard ramped up its development projects in Boston.
Allston neighborhood leaders said the university’s support is needed more than ever as housing prices continue to escalate and the Trump administration seeks to cut federal housing support.
“The cost of housing is tearing away at the very fabric of our community. It produces winners and losers,” said Anthony D’Isidoro, president of the Allston Civic Association.
The Allston Brighton Community Development Corp., a nonprofit affordable housing developer, will receive $10,000. The recipients include a wide range of local organizations, including arts, youth and recreation groups.
The institutional master plan focuses on projects directly tied to university uses. Harvard recently submitted three new real estate proposals in its IMP for the next 10 years, including two in the Soldiers Field Road athletic area. The projects include a 200,000-square-foot tennis and squash center replacing the existing Beren Tennis Center, a 20,000-square-foot building including coaches’ offices and locker rooms for the women’s rugby team, and an 8,150-square-foot catering building at 168 Western Ave.
Harvard separately agreed to create a $25 million anti-displacement fund and reserve a quarter of the 345 apartments at its Enterprise Research Campus project currently under construction on Western Avenue. That project is a partnership with New York-based developer Tishman Speyer.
80-Unit Downtown Housing Conversion Approved
At Thursday’s meeting, the BPDA board approved 171 housing units including an 80-unit office-to-residential conversion at 15 Court Square.
The downtown office conversion program offers 75 percent property tax abatements for 29 years, and has received applications for 760 total housing units in 20 office buildings.
The Court Square project developer is Woburn-based KS Partners, which bought the 11-story building in 2019 for $29 million.
Conversion to 73,072 square feet of residential space is estimated at $29 million, according to BPDA documents, including 16 income-restricted units.
In Allston, Roxbury-based developer Urbanica Inc. received approval for 43 income-restricted home ownership condominiums in three buildings at 65-79 Seattle St. The estimated project cost is $25.9 million, according to BPDA documents.
Another all-affordable housing project was approved in Mission Hill, as part of Mayor Michelle Wu’s surplus property disposition program to create housing. Developer Kevin Maguire of ODJ Dev LLC received approval for 48 home ownership units on a vacant former city-owned property at 77 Terrace St. and 778-796 Parker St.
And in Jamaica Plain, Allandale Farm will replace its existing store with a barn-style retail market, while consolidating its greenhouses with a single structure. The 10,650-square-foot project is estimated at $6.75 million.
